New Digs and Big Career Decisions on Tap as TNT's The Closer, Ad-Supported Cable's #1 Series of All Time, Returns for Sixth Season Monday, July 12

A new multi-million-dollar headquarters and an internal political struggle over who will become the next police chief add a whole new set of challenges for Deputy Police Chief Brenda Leigh Johnson as TNT presents the sixth season of ad-supported cable's #1 series of all time - The Closer. Golden Globe(R) winner and four-time Emmy(R) nominee Kyra Sedgwick returns as Johnson, who heads up the LAPD's Major Crimes Division.

As the new season of The Closer opens, the squad is moving into its new high-tech digs. But it's not long before they're wishing they could be back in their old space, where a plain white board nailed to the wall was more practical than the troublesome sliding screens in their new murder room. But true to form, Brenda is determined to bend the space to her style.

With the LAPD on the hunt for a new chief of police, Assistant Police Chief Will Pope (Simmons) is among those in the running. Should he get The Job, it could mean a promotion for Brenda. The political juggling around The Office soon leads Brenda to do some career-minded soul-searching. It also has her colleague, Robbery-Homicide Commander Taylor (Gossett) smelling a possible promotion for himself, even though he can't even seem to wrangle an office of his own in the new facility.

On the home front, Brenda's husband, FBI Agent Fritz Howard (Tenney) has some career changes of his own in store. After turning down a promotion that would have sent him to Washington, D.C., he's now in line for a job that could not only keep him in LA, but give him and Brenda the chance to spend a lot more time together.

This season, Brenda and her squad will tackle cases involving a sniper shooting in a posh neighborhood, a possible serial rapist who uses a stun gun to immobilize his victims and a drug-related custody battle that ends in two deaths. Meanwhile, Detective Sanchez (Cruz) will struggle to care for a young boy involved in a case the squad investigated last year. And Lt. Provenza (Bailey), Brenda's second-in-command, will once again find himself in a professionally embarrassing situation when a one-night stand with a flight attendant leads to the discovery of a dead body in her bathtub.

Also this season, Mary McDonnell (Battlestar Galactica) will reprise her role as Capt. Raydor, the by-the-book head of the Force Investigation Division who has butted heads with Brenda on several occasions. This time, her presence could have major implications for Brenda's future in the department.

Since its premiere in 2005, The Closer has earned numerous ad-supported cable viewership records, ranking as the #1 series of all time and scoring the #1 series telecast of all time. For its fifth season, the show averaged 7.7 million viewers.

THE CLOSER will be joined on Mondays by TNT's newest crime drama, RIZZOLI & ISLES, starring Angie Harmon and Sasha Alexander. The series centers on Boston Detective Jane Rizzoli and her best friend, Medical Examiner Maura Isles, characters created by novelist Tess Gerritsen. RIZZOLI & ISLES airs Mondays at 10 p.m. (ET/PT), beginning July 12.

THE CLOSER comes to TNT from The Shephard/Robin Company, in association with Warner Bros. Television. The series is executive-produced by Greer Shephard, Michael M. Robin, James Duff, Rick Wallace and Kyra Sedgwick. The show is produced by Andrew J. Sacks, and Gil Garcetti, Los Angeles district attorney from 1992 to 2000, serves as consulting producer.

TNT, one of cable's top-rated networks, is television's destination for drama and home to such original series as the acclaimed and highly popular detective drama The Closer, starring Kyra Sedgwick; Men of a Certain Age, with Ray Romano, Andre Braugher and Scott Bakula; Saving Grace, starring Holly Hunter; HawthoRNe, with Jada Pinkett Smith; Leverage, starring Timothy Hutton; and Dark Blue, starring Dylan McDermott; the upcoming Rizzoli & Isles, starring Angie Harmon and Sasha Alexander; Memphis Beat, with Jason Lee; and Southland, from Emmy(R)-winning producer John Wells (ER). TNT also presents such powerful dramas as Bones, Supernatural, Las Vegas, Law & Order, CSI: NY, Cold Case and Numb3rs; broadcast premiere movies; compelling primetime specials, such as the Screen Actors Guild Awards(R); and championship sports coverage, including NASCAR and the NBA. TNT is available in high-definition.

Turner Broadcasting System, Inc., a Time Warner company, creates and programs branded news, entertainment, animation and young adult media environments on television and other platforms for consumers around the world.